Carr calls for Aussie air strikes to stop mass atrocities

FORMER Labor foreign minister Bob Carr has argued Australia should join the United States' air strikes over Syria because it has a "moral obligation" to stop Islamic State committing mass atrocities against civilians.

The Federal Opposition is still considering its position on the US request for extra support and is seeking more information from the Government about the legal basis for an expanded role.

But Mr Carr backed the action, saying there was a powerful case to be made about Australia carrying out air strikes across the border.

"The West has really got a moral obligation to act where it can be argued there's a chance of saving civilian populations from the mass atrocity crimes that seem to follow very quickly when IS takes control of territory," Mr Carr told the ABC.

Australia is already bombing IS targets in Iraq at the invitation of the Iraqi government, but operations in Syria have different legal considerations, with the Syrian Assad regime against the US air strikes.